Da. Cahn-weiner et al., Brain structural and cognitive correlates of clock drawing performance in Alzheimer's disease, J INT NEURO, 5(6), 1999, pp. 502-509
Citations number
35
Categorie Soggetti
Neurology
Journal title
JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL SOCIETY
The Clock Drawing Test (CDT) is widely used in the assessment of dementia a
nd is known to be sensitive to the detection of deficits in neurodegenerati
ve disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). CDT performance is dependent
not only on visuospatial and constructional abilities, but also on concept
ual and executive functioning; therefore, it is likely to be mediated by mu
ltiple brain regions. The purpose of the present study was to identify comp
onent cognitive processes and regional cortical volumes that contribute to
CDT performance in AD. in 29 patients with probable AD, CDT performance was
significantly related to right-, but not left-hemisphere, regional gray ma
tter volume. Specifically, CDT score correlated significantly with the righ
t anterior and posterior superior temporal lobe volumes. CDT scores showed
significant relationships with tests of semantic knowledge, executive funct
ion, and visuoconstruction, and receptive language. These. results suggest
that in AD patients, CDT performance is attributable to impairment in multi
ple cognitive domains but is related specifically to regional volume loss o
f right temporal cortex.